1966 Deville Black W/ Black Carpet Bench W/ Armrest Seat Covers & Conv Rear Pui on 2040-parts.com

Post-World War II Japanese tin toys on display in New York

During the rebuilding of Japan after World War II, a Japanese toy designer took a discarded tin can and molded it into an intricate model car. Just inches in length, it created a phenomenon in the 1940s and '50s in Japan called “buriki.” Buriki is derived from “blik,” which is Dutch for "tin toy." A collection of 70 tin-toy vehicles manufactured in Japan is currently on display at New York's Japan Society Gallery. The exhibit, called “Buriki: Japanese Tin Toys from the Golden Age of the American Automobile, The Yoku Tanaka Collection,” runs until Aug.

New MINI 5-door Hatch revealed – but will you fit through the back doors?

The 5-door MINI hatch arrives We’ve already had the more BMW-like new MINI arrive, and now, for the first time, we get a MINI 5-door hatch to try and extend the appeal of the MINI range to families. The 5-door MINI gets an extra 72mm in the wheelbase and a pair of doors at the back – which do look very tight for full-size people to use – and there’s also an extra 15mm of headroom, a bigger boot and seating for three in the back. In terms of design, there’s little to choose between the 5-door and the 3-door, but the new 5-door does look a bit like the off-spring of the new MINI and the Countryman; just a little dumpy.

Hyundai ix35 FCEV production starts – & previews the ix35 facelift?

Hyundai has started production of the ix35 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle which perhaps previews the facelift for the ix35. We revealed last year that Hyundai were pushing ahead with their hydrogen fuel cell cars (and eschewing battery EVs in the process) with plans to start rolling the Hyundai ix35 FCEV off the production line by the end of 2012. That plan slipped just a little, but the first ix35 FCEV has now rolled of the production line in Korea (pictured above) as Hyundai work towards full scale production of the ix35 FCEV by 2015.